Do all Baristas have forearms of steel? No. But a firm hand is needed if the Barista is going to make heavenly espresso with a Traditional machine. Ewan Reid, the effervescent Technical & Quality Director at Matthew Algie, bubbles into activity at the mention of tamping... "
By tamping down the finely ground coffee in the portafilter, we're aiming to supplement the hydraulic pressure that will force water through the coffee to make real espresso." Hydraulics? What does he mean...? "We all know that espresso is about pressure" remarks Ewan "and to create a stable bed of ground coffee particulates we have to tamp. That way, the essential battle between water pressure and compacted coffee is ensured and correct extraction takes place." We understand you, Ewan. But to make things even simpler, here are a few bullet points:

- dose the ground coffee into the portafilter and tap its side with your hand to even out the surface

- tamp once with about 20 psi of pressure (in other words, firm but not too hard!)

- tap the portafilter again

- tamp again with 40 psi pressure this time (about as firm as you can manage with the hand you don't use for writing)

- "polish" the coffee surface by twisting the portafilter slightly under the tamp

- dust off the edges of the portafilter before locking it into the group head and making a heavenly espresso

- When done with style and bravura, the entire tamping process will take a barista about 5 seconds. Practice...practice.

This article originally appeared in Fresh 6